Three Common Hoopoes, Lots of Ruddy Kingfishers (video)
The arrival of Common Hoopoes on Ishigaki this season has been a drawn-out, straggling affair. There are spots where you can watch Common Hoopoe and Ruddy Kingfisher at the same time, and visiting birdwatchers from the mainland all seem very pleased about that. ^^
On this day I found three Common Hoopoes at two locations and nearly ten Ruddy Kingfishers. For some reason every individual was completely unafraid, and photographing them was stress-free.
A Eurasian Hoopoe that looked a little tired — perhaps it had just arrived.
A Eurasian Hoopoe that caught a cockroach. Cockroaches are so synonymous with Hoopoes on Ishigaki that you could almost say that's all they eat here.
This season was a bumper year for Eurasian Hoopoes on Ishigaki Island — I counted several dozen individuals… ^^;
A Ruddy Kingfisher taking on a Anoplophora malasiaca.
Same individual as above. Like the Hoopoe, it has been delighting visitors at the same spot.
A particularly unflappable Ruddy Kingfisher. It perched about three metres away.
A male and female Mandarin Duck. They've been together for a few days now — perhaps a pair?
The Common Redshanks that wintered here are beginning to come into summer plumage.